Technical article

How Long Does Your Right to a Home Last? Indonesia and Vietnam

Government Regulation 18 of 2021 lists foreigners among those who may hold a right of use for a set time.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a couple named Dan and Maria. Both are 63. They love a coastal town and want to put money into a home there. They ask two things. How long is the right ours? And what could end it early, for example if we spend a winter at home in Ohio?

I read the laws themselves for Indonesia and Vietnam. No official page in the sources confirms Thailand. I read these through summaries of the official texts, so I quote only what came back as quoted text and mark the rest as paraphrase.

The clock in each country

Indonesia

Government Regulation 18 of 2021 lists foreigners among those who may hold a right of use for a set time. Article 52(1) says "paling lama 30 (tiga puluh) tahun" for the first term. It then allows an extension of "paling lama 20 (dua puluh) tahun" and a renewal of "paling lama 30 (tiga puluh) tahun." Adding the three gives up to 80 years on paper. Each step needs the conditions to still be met (Article 55(1), paraphrase). That total is my arithmetic.

Article 56(2) says a renewal is requested "paling lama 2 (dua) tahun setelah berakhirnya jangka waktu," meaning no later than two years after the term ends.

The law also ties the right to the holder. If the holder no longer qualifies, Article 50(1) gives "1 (satu) tahun" to release the right or pass it to someone who qualifies. If that does not happen, Article 50(2) says the right ends "hapus karena hukum," by operation of law. A home owned by a foreigner needs valid immigration documents (Article 69(1)). On death, the home "dapat diwariskan kepada ahli waris," and a foreign heir needs valid immigration documents too (Article 69(2) and (3)).

Apartments on this kind of right are limited to special zones, such as economic zones, free trade areas, free ports and industrial areas (Article 71(2), paraphrase). Article 72 sets limits on price, land area and unit numbers, and Article 73 sends the details to a ministerial regulation, which is not among the sources.

Vietnam

The Law on Housing says an individual's ownership is "nhưng không quá 50 năm, kể từ ngày được cấp Giấy chứng nhận," which means no more than 50 years from the date the certificate is issued. It adds "và được gia hạn một lần với thời hạn không quá 50 năm nếu có nhu cầu," one extension of up to another 50 years if there is a need (Article 20(2)(c)). That adds to a possible 100 years, my arithmetic. The term is written on the certificate.

If the owner does not sell or gift the home before the term ends, the home "thuộc tài sản công," it becomes public property (Article 20(2)(đ)).

To qualify, an individual must be someone "được phép nhập cảnh vào Việt Nam," permitted to enter Vietnam (Article 17(1)(c)). Someone not permitted to enter generally cannot receive title and may only sell or gift through another person (Article 22(1)(b), paraphrase). If Vietnamese authorities order a foreign owner to leave, the property is handled as the authority decides (Article 21(2)(d), paraphrase).

What about being away?

I looked for a rule such as "if you are gone more than X months, you lose the right." In the text I read, neither country states one. In Indonesia the right can end if you stop meeting the conditions, and immigration papers must stay valid. In Vietnam, the text speaks of being permitted to enter and of forced departure. How many months away a retiree's own visa or card allows is a different question, set by the immigration rules, which the sources do not show here.

What is left open

• Thailand. The Department of Lands pages I opened were menus and title lists with no lease figures. One page would not open. I do not state any Thai lease term.
• Indonesia's ministerial rules in Article 73, and any time-away limits tied to a retirement visa.
• Vietnam's rules on absence for residence cards.

An accountant or lawyer who works with Americans abroad could confirm how this fits one person.